Mercedes-Benz’s new C-Class, which is now available in South Africa, is an extremely well sought after car!
Fourth-generation C-Class is datum point car in the compact Mercedes sedan offering. A design tracing Benz values – refinement, elegance, comfort – instead of attempting to be a RWD BMW driving-dynamics 3 Series clone.
Courageously, Mercedes-Benz South Africa has, despite a shrinking market and vacillating demand for it, committed to retailing the latest C-Class estate locally. This is a very good thing, as the estate is very much the best C-Class you can buy. More spacious, more elegantly styled and crucially, that touch more stable at speed thanks to its fuller aft section, C-Class estate is what could be described in teenage vernacular as a ‘total win’.
With Volvo’s V60 as its only rival you’d think the estate retail space to be a market given to easy conquest, but South Africans have such vitriolic hate of any five-door vehicle without an SUV stance, that Merc’s glorious CLS Shooting Brake failed miserably here. Despite this, Mercedes is marketing a tidy range of C-Class estates with three engine derivatives C180, C200 and C250 BlueTec. Trim levels tally either the classic three-pointed-star-on-bonnet-tip Elegance or the bolder Avantgarde, with the latter’s simpler dual horizontal line grille and larger valance styled bumper perhaps the better design iteration of current C-Class.
Mechanically it’s exactly the same as C-Class sedan with a touch more mass (65kg), length (16mm) and of course, the airflow stability resulting from the fuller body proportions aft of the rear axle. With optional AMG suspension and sports steering the C250 BlueTec we drove on a looping route through the Eastern Free State highlands tracked with terrific stability as speed and trimmed into fast, open sweeps with crisp reassurance. The C-Class is such an inherently driveable car, yet none of this has come at the cost of that renowned ride quality typical of larger Mercedes-Benz products.
If you’ve driven the R26 of late you’ll certainly agree with us that whilst the scenery is spectacular, the road surface is less than splendid. In fact: it’s awful. Potholed, with terrifyingly degraded shoulder surfacing, it’s the kind of road you dread to drive in a German compact executive car with 18-inch wheels.
Despite impacting a fair quota of testing potholes, we suffered not a single puncture or ruined wheel. It’s that integral balance engineered into new C-Class, its encouraging high-speed handling poise and robust (pothole proof) rebound damping, which impressed mightily. The airmatic air suspension (R13 000) and sports suspension (R4 000) combine as very worthwhile optional extras.
It’s effortlessly fast too, the 2.2-litre turbodiesel is good for 500Nm, all of which are converted by the 7G-Tronic transmission to thrust without drama but notable intent; 0-100kph in 6.9 is a tidy number. All of this high-speed cruising ability comes at the cost of only 4.5l/100km too, if you curtail your boost addiction.
Mercedes-Benz C250 BlueTec
2.2-litre turbodiesel, 150kW, 500Nm, 7-speed auto, 0-100kph in 6.9 secs, 241kph, 0-100kph, 4.5l/100km, R558 400